Best Moments from the Cricket All-Stars 2015 2nd T20 match

Cricket has been the real winner from the All-Stars eventThere are two things which have always amused mankind - the past & the future. On one hand, we love to relive old memories and at the same time we want to know about the future. With due regards to the astrologers, for a common man it is not easy to see the future. But the advent of technology has ensured that we can always re-live those wonderful memories of the past with ease.As a cricket fan, I always relive those memories of the 90s on the internet when a young Sachin Tendulkar dismissed Shane Warne in Sharjah and had the late Tony Greig commenting those golden words – “They are dancing in the aisles in Sharjah”.Well, thanks to the Cricket All-Stars series, we are getting to see the greats of the by-gone era and it has been a treat to say the least. The scorecard says that Warne’s Warriors defeated the Sachin’s Blasters comprehensively by 57 runs in the second T20 match.But did the result really matter? Yes a victory for Tendulkar’s team would have had the Indian journalists excited and they would have come up with headlines like - “Tendulkar still dominates Warne”, but for a cricket fan there was much more to this game or the series.The menu on offer was like a Chappan Bhog (grand menu consisting of 56 dishes) for a cricket fan. It had the old rivalry between Brian Lara and Shane Warne, the prospect of seeing McGrath go all out at his former Aussie teammate Matthew Hayden, Jonty Rhodes taking those breathtaking catches at the point and the list goes on.Sometimes the result is irrelevant and it is the journey which becomes significant. I would use the cliched line often used by cricket commentators - “At the end of the day cricket was the real winner”.Here is an attempt to look at some of the best moments from the second T20 match played at Houston:

#6 Shaun Pollock hits Wasim Akram for 3 consecutive sixes

Akram was belted for three consecutive sixes by Pollock in the 19^th over

The match was all but over with Sachin’s Blasters needing 98 runs from 12 balls when Wasim Akram came into ball his 4th over. What unfolded next was something which I am not sure Akram experienced in his playing career.

Akram was pounded for three consecutive sixes in the 3rd, 4th & 5th ball of the over. Pollock started with a six over mid-wicket of a low full toss. The left-armer then tried a slower one which again Pollock dismissed to the on-side for a six.

Surely, Akram was not liking this pounding and he went back over the wicket only to be hit for a six over covers. Though this late burst from Pollock did little to change the result of the match, it definitely gave the fans plenty to cheer about.

#5 Jonty Rhodes hitting Lance Klusener for 2 sixes

Klusener and Rhodes were two other former teammates playing in opposite teams this time around

Apart from being a one-of-a-kind fielder in the 90s, Jonty Rhodes was also a great finisher in One-Day cricket. He once again proved this in the last over of the first innings when he hit his former Proteas teammate Lance Klusener for 2 consecutive sixes in the 20th over.

Klusener had started the last over well conceding only 3 runs of the first 4 deliveries. However, Rhodes dispatched the next two balls into the stands to ruin his former teammate’s figures. The first of the two sixes was a hit off a full toss over square leg and the second one a flick over the fine-leg boundary.

At the end, what we witnessed was true sportsman spirit between two long-time teammates as Klusener hugged Rhodes, all smiles, without exchanging a word.

#4 Tendulkar bowled by Saqlain Musthaq

Saqlain Musthaq still seems to have got the measure of Tendulkar

The ghost of the Chennai Test match where Saqlain Mushtaq had dismissed Sachin Tendulkar to trigger an Indian batting collapse in the 4th innings of the first Test match came back to haunt the Little Master.

Tendulkar who was looking good at 33 off 20 balls was done in by Mushtaq’s quicker one in the 9th over of the innings. Much like the case as it was with the Indian batting line-up in the 90s, with Sachin’s dismissal, the chances of a victory for Sachin’s Blasters evaporated.

But I am sure the fans in Islamabad would have celebrated this dismissal by the man who was the pioneer of “Doosra” in off-break bowling.

#3 Brian Lara dancing down the pitch to smash a boundary over Shane Warne\'s head

Brian Lara and Shane Warne enjoyed a nice battle during the match at Houston

It was vintage Brian Lara and had me humming the 90s ad - “Lara kya hai maara” (What a shot Lara!). Lara who had just arrived in at the fall of Sourav Ganguly’s wicket had already swept Shane Warne to the fine leg boundary.

This shot was just a trailer of the shot to follow. After a dot ball, Lara danced down the wicket and hit Warne straight over his head for a boundary. It had the class of Lara written all over it and would have given something to the Caribbean fans to cheer about.

I am sure Warne would have been tensed after this shot as two of his greatest nemesis - Lara & Tendulkar were together at the crease.

#2 Tendulkar hitting Agarkar for 2 sixes and a four in an over

Sachin Tendulkar took us down memory lane with a shot reminiscent from the 2003 World Cup

For a Sahin Tendulkar fan, this was the moment of the match. Sachin was just settling in when his former Mumbai teammate Ajit Agarkar came in to bowl his 3rd over. Tendulkar started off with a six and a four off the 2nd and 4th delivery of the Agarkar over.

The next shot took us 12 years back down memory lane to the 2003 World Cup when Tendulkar had hooked the English bowler Andrew Caddick for a huge six. The shot off Agarkar may not have been as huge as that famous Caddick six, but it was more than enough to get us excited.

#1 Glenn McGrath dismissing Matthew Hayden

Australian legends McGrath and Hayden are in opposing teams in the Cricket All-Stars 2015

One battle which the cricket fans were deprived off during their playing days was a battle between two Australian legends - Glen McGrath and Matthew Hayden. I am pretty sure the two would know each other’s tricks like the back off their hands having spent so many years together in the Australian dressing room.

Many times during the peak of his career Hayden reminded me of a butcher ready with his knife in his hand and today was no different. Hayden hit two sixes at the start of the over which were mis-hits by his standards but still landed up over the boundary line.

But McGrath is not the one to back off from a battle and true to his nature, he stuck to his line and length and forced Hayden to make a mistake. He pitched this one slightly outside off and Hayden had a swing at it across the line and this proved to be Hayden’s downfall as the ball rattled the stumps off an inside edge.